START TOMORROW! Cook-Blog-Share

February is the big month! Just a reminder, if you are going to be sharing recipes, please post one on your blog tomorrow (Tuesday), or email me your recipe so I can post it on my blog. Then check back here on Wednesday to see some new recipes. Thanks! (elainesmithson@live.com)

1st Annual Cook-Blog-Share Event!

Yes, I put rice in a pan in the shape of a smiley face just for this post.

Yesterday, as evening was approaching, I knew I needed to start making dinner. But I didn't want to. Not because it takes time or effort, but because I didn't want to eat anything I was going to cook. I am tired of all of the meals on my "menu." I need something new.

Thats when I had this ingenious idea. For four weeks, post a recipe on my blog on Tuesday and ask all my friends to post one of their favorite recipes on their own blog. Here is how I imagine it working. Anyone who wants to participate posts a recipe on THEIR blog every Tuesday for the next month. On Wednesday, I post my recipe and a link to all the other bloggers involved. Then, just visit my blog, check out my recipe, and follow the links to other blogs with recipes. Does that make sense? Or, email me your recipe (if you want your blog private) and I can post it for you. Even if three friends join in, that is twelve new recipes for me!

I have to say, this is a risk for me. What if nobody is keen on my idea? I mean, I only have, what, ten readers? So the chances of this taking off may not be so good. I may take a slight hit to my self esteem if no one wants to do it, but I will get over it quickly. Then I will delete this post and pretend it never happened.

SO. If you are interested leave a comment or email me! Then I will send you a little email with a few extra details. The whole thing will start next week and last through February. Thanks!

I gave up, I gave in, I changed my mind

Bigdog ALWAYS has to have his chomp-chomp to sleep with. He rubs it on his face while he falls to sleep. And he has claimed this soft blanket as his own. He loves soft things.

We make She-She sleep on the floor. Just kidding. She is playing pretend in this picture.

She-She and Bigdog share a room. At least since he was six months or so. Mostly this is because I am stubborn. I never had my own room so any kid with their own room is spoiled. Not really, I just have a hard time giving my kids their own room for some reason.

When Bigdog was old enough to sleep through the night, we moved him in with She-She. It worked pretty well for the most part. There was a week or two when BD decided he would NOT sleep through the night, so we practiced a little "sleep training" (AKA- cry it out kid!) during which time She-She slept with us for a few nights.

Everything was hunky dory (is that how you spell that?). I even think they got a little comfort from having each other while they slept. UNTIL our little Arizona adventure when BD got sick and since that time we have passed around cold after cold. Let me give you a little formula here:

BD sick= BD not sleeping well

BD not sleeping well + sharing a room with She-She= She-She not sleeping well

Bigdog and She-She not sleeping well= ME not sleeping well.

This has been the case since November. I was up AT LEAST three times a night to help one or the other. Finally Bigdog started sleeping better in January, but then She-She was all out of whack.

About two weeks ago I HAD HAD IT. "I'm splitting them up!" I said. "I told you so," said Sean. Which made me want to NOT split them up but I needed sleep. It was like having a newborn again. Okay, not really that bad, but it was still tiring.

I started preparing to move She-She into the other room when miraculously, they both slept through the night. Then it happend two more nights. If they do it again I will have four nights of peaceful rest under my belt. So now I am thinking about leaving them together. I mean, not lasting 6 months with them sharing? Weak! Or maybe it would be better to split them up until they are a little older. Why am I choosing to make my life (and their sleep) harder? I don't know the right answer. We will see how tonight goes.

Sea Life Aquarium

Some of us girls in Relief Society took a trip to an aquarium over in Sandy, Utah. I knew She-She would like it but I wasn't sure how Bigdog would do. HE had a good time, although, I was sweating and tired by the end. Between chasing him around, holding him up so he could see what he was interested in, and helping She-She get the most out of it, I was exhausted! I was impressed, though. There was a variety of animals including a tank with a few small sharks in it, and a pond where you could pet sting rays (which She-She was too nervous to do and I didn't let Bigdog because he would probably jump in after them). A pretty good set up considering we are in the desert, surrounded by snow, and far from the ocean.


This is Bigdog wearing his pirate hat in anticipation of our outing.

This is an octopus...

This is an octopus about to eat She-SHe

This is the octopus closing in for the kill...

Uh-Oh...Bigdog was eaten by the octopus...it is dark inside the belly....

Can I just say...

I find it satisfying to change the background of my blog frequently.

I don't follow many blogs of people I don't know, but I just stumbled on one called thepioneerwoman.com and I am kinda addicted lately. It makes me want to buy a cow.

Bigdog always smells like maple syrup. Except after a bath and then he smells like soap.

I miss the Arizona wamth. There I said it.

Someone in my family (one of my siblings) needs to marry a mechanic. Or an airline pilot.

She-She has renamed Bigdog "Pachacohnie." Or Pacha for short. Mostly this is his name when they play games. Where did she get that?

I adore Krispy Kreme. I adore Krispy Kreme. (yes, I said it two times)

Our garbage day is Monday. Why can I never remember to take the cans out?

Whistle While You Work

It is official, I am forcing my daughter into child labor. Its true. She now has a chore that ONLY SHE is responsible for. She is in charge of putting the silverware away from the dishwasher. I'm kinda proud of myself for sticking to something that is not convenient, but will give my girl character.

It works like this. Every time I put a load of dishes in to wash, when I unload the dishwasher I put the silverware (minus knives) on the counter so she can reach. She has to stand on a stool to do it. Then She-She does her chore while I put the rest of the dishes away. It has a nice feeling of team work to it :).

And she does a really good job. Usually she doesn't even complain. It should only take 3 or 4 minutes, but she usually drags it out to 10 or 15 minutes. Most of that time is spent making "flower" bouquets out of forks, pretending like spoons are lollipops, and making the knives carry on conversations with each other. This is a typical example of how she lives life, though. She goes at her leisure with any task, or any play, taking her sweet time, never in a hurry. She even WALKS like this-smelling the roses, greeting the butterflies- its cute but a leeeetle exasperating when I want to get somewhere fast.

Lets face it- it would be much easier if I did it myself. No getting the stool, getting She-She, sorting the silverware for knives, making sure she gets started. But its the moral of it, right? All you out there in blog-land, do you have your (3 year old) child do chores or clean up after themselves consistently? I have to admit, I am very lenient when it comes to putting toys away, picking up clothes, or making beds. But, this seems easier because there is a set task, way to do it, and a time and place to do it. So good job to her and me. We make a great team.

Do you see that little blond head at the bottom of the picture?

Bigdog likes to help too. His job is to open all the other drawers and pull out bibs, ziplock bags, and aprons. He is good at it.

Bigdog Photo Shoot

Its a few weeks late, but I took Bigdog to get pictures for his first birthday. He was pretty willing to smile, although we didn't get any big grins. Enjoy!

This is the official portrait. We ordered other poses, but this is the one we will hang up.

Christmas

We had an amazing Christmas. Sean worked Christmas Eve and through the night which was VERY lonely, but he was able to be home on Christmas so we were grateful. In fact, the kids decided to sleep in (which was like a little Christmas miracle in itself) so Sean got home before they even woke up.

She-She didn't want to come down to see what Santa brought at first. She had been up in the night with a low fever and was content to lay in her bed. We had to almost BEG her to come down so we could start the festivities. But, once we got going, it was so much fun.

Both kids loved ripping off wrapping paper. Bigdog was an excellent help at getting everything unwrapped. We noticed that She-She was very careful when unwrapping anything that belonged to her, but wasn't shy when it came to destroying anyone elses wrapping job.

We had so much fun just being together. It was a thrill to experience that little kid Christmas excitement through Bigdog and She-She. It lasted the whole day and they sure kept us busy.

Santa filled the stockings but didn't leave any presents under the tree. Mom and Dad gave one or two small presents. But WAIT! What is that in the garage! (we moved it outside later)

Santa left a whole swing set in the garage! And let me tell you. I know the elves had TONS of fun putting it together. In fact, sometimes I think the elves might have a hard time giving the credit to Santa when THEY do all the work.

Now, I bet you are wondering, "Do you have some extra kids stashed somewhere because that is an awefully big swing set." And all I have to say is that old Mr. Claus is an amazing guy and this swing set was the most efficient (cheapest) way to go. Even more so than the smaller versions. So this was the big gift that the kiddies recieved.

You also might be thinking, "Hmmmm, it looks COLD out there." Why yes it is! But She-She is a huge fan of swinging and can't get enough. For the next three days she braved the 21 degree weather to play outside for at least a half an hour. Then a snow storm came. But we cant wait until the snow melts again-and even better- until spring is here.

So, we ate good food all day, played with toys, froze outside on the swing set (in a good way), remembered the true meaning of Christmas, and just had a really great time being a family.

Yay For 6 Years!

Happy anniversary to us! In six years a lot has happened. We earned two bachelor degrees, one doctorate, we moved twice, had two kids, bought a house, made it through med school and started residency. Wow. And more in love than when it all began.

This picture looks ancient because the quality is really bad. It was taken at beloved Mountain Plaza a day or so after we got engaged .

Here is one of our official engagement pics.


And the big day at the Mesa Arizona Temple

What more can I say? We are happily married. :)

Here are some pictures we took in honor of Christmas. Can I just say it is so hard to get a good picture of these little monsters? I know it is the same with all kids. How do you get them to smile, NICELY, at the same time. Actually, it is impossible. Not to mention I am not very good with a camera (more on that later). But- they do look spiffy in their Sunday dress!

Bigdog is staring at spiderman lurking on the ceiling above She-She...I guess.

She-She is comforting her baby Kira.

Daddy is making funny faces.

This might be the winner. They both are looking at the camera in a calm way.

And a dose of sweetness. She-She got this coat from her great grandparents. Very cute.